Nigeria's Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaidu, visited troops in the northeastern state of Borno on Saturday, days after jihadists killed 15 soldiers in an assault on a military base. Within hours, a roadside bomb in the same state killed eight more soldiers, underscoring the pressure on forces in the region.
The earlier attack took place overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday in Mairari, a village in the Lake Chad area. According to defence and local sources, a large group of fighters from the Islamic State in West African Province (ISWAP) overran the base, looted weapons and burnt the compound and several vehicles. Fifteen soldiers and five members of an anti-jihadist civilian militia, known as the JTF, were killed. A military officer who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity said the base was "razed to the ground" and troops withdrew towards Monguno, a garrison town about 18 kilometres away. Several soldiers remain missing, and colleagues fear they may have been captured. Residents said the attackers fought what one called a "prolonged battle" and stayed until daybreak; one believed they had come from their base in Gudumbali.
On Saturday, according to RFI, a military vehicle hit a remotely triggered mine near the village of Kinuba, close to the border with Cameroon, killing eight soldiers and wounding one militia member. The troops had been inspecting militia members who were clearing brush along the road to the town of Gamboru. Jihadists use such vegetation to hide and ambush military and civilian vehicles. The blast was attributed to ISWAP. General Shaidu was in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, urging troops to defend peace and security ahead of Nigeria's elections. Observers noted that he did not mention the Mairari deaths, but that US soldiers were present during his inspection. In late July, Washington announced it would withdraw most of the roughly 200 American troops deployed to advise and train the Nigerian army.
Borno is the epicentre of an insurgency that began in 2009 with Boko Haram and later extended to its splinter group, ISWAP. The United Nations says the conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced around two million from their homes in the northeast. Violence had eased from its peak about a decade ago but has risen over the past two years. According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) project, the second quarter of 2026 saw the highest level of violence in Nigeria since the group began tracking it in 1997. Last week, around two dozen militants and soldiers died when ISWAP attacked an outpost in Kukawa, before fighter jets helped drive the attackers back.
The successive attacks highlight the difficulty the army faces in protecting isolated bases and supply routes, even as political attention turns to the coming elections.